Life by Chocolate

Chocolate, white, milk, dark, in all its forms forms life. Chocolate truffles, caramels, and other confections are at the core of enjoyment. This is life by chocolate because death by chocolate is the wrong attitude.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Pura Vida Worldly Art, thrice welcomed

Pura Vida Worldly Art, ahora tiene la mas pura chocolate del mundo, La Vida Chocolate. I'd like to extend a warm welcome to this great store in Charlotte North Carolina. They are dedicated to promoting unity and enlightenment through exposing people to other cultures. Bravo. That sounds like a great mission. They provide a wonderful place where people can go to discuss ideas and interact in a comfortable setting.

And now, this great establishment has Life, Life by Chocolate that is and through chocolate, they will help promote happiness as well as mutual understanding. Please help them out and go buy your Life by Chocolate there in North Carolina. And like Life by Chocolate, they understand the need to support the arts, especially local arts.

Please go to The Herb Shoppe and buy your herbs and your chocolates there, especially Life by Chocolate. Perhaps you could buy your chocolate with herbs. Life by Chocolate uses some great herbs in our chocolate, lavender, urfa, ancho chili, saffron, just to name a few. Go and support this store. Thank you.

The Artist's Palate

The Artist's Palate in Poughkeepsie is a great place to go eat. They had me at their amuse bouche. Actually, Kim and I went there right after getting our hair cuts. Indeed, we go all the way to Poughkeepsie to go to Jag Salon.

I forgot my camera again so you'll have to just sit back and imagine what it was like. The Artist's Palate is a contemporary restaurant with very contemporary styling. What started out to be uncomfortable seats a la machine to sit in, but chic, loosened up as the evening progressed and the sidecars were drunk. Yes, they know how to make a sidecar and they take direction. The first one I had was a little sweet but the next one was perfect.

The bathrooms are a trip and should not be missed. They play videos of 1940's Jazz bands to amuse you. Towels artfully fanned out for your use, too bad they were paper. I also liked the wait service. Very personable and nice. This is more of a relaxed place rather than an elegant place.

The most important part of The Artist's Palate, and if you look them up in the phone book, they are under the T's, is the food. The amuse bouche was a simple cucumber with salmon and some citrus. Perfect bite. Then, I had the Mac 'n Cheese with lobster. It sounds like a page out of Thomas Keller's book but it is not. Rather, it is almost a page out of Top Chef or even my cookbook but not quite. This was simple small shells with white cheddar and lobster, indeed, a small amount of actual meat but a huge lobster taste, topped with Panko. Yum. Next time I do my Mac 'n Cheese, I'll have to make my breadcrumbs more in the Panko style. I'll go back just to have this dish again. It rivals Oysters and Pearls.

Kim had the Venison Carpaccio. She liked it. I didn't taste it.

They were out of the Llama Ribeye so I ordered the duck medium rare. It came out juicy and tender but it was medium. Next time, I'll have to order it rare. The veggie sides, asparagus, carrots, mash potatoes were nothing special. The duck carried this entree.

Kim ordered the Gnocchi and Shrimp. The Gnocchi was good but not light enough to be great. I tasted a little of the shrimp. Very nicely prepared and perfectly seasoned, as was the duck.

I got the pear and fig tart with their version of banana saffron ice cream with pistachios. The ice cream was more banana than saffron. The banana, because it was roasted, overpowered the saffron and the nuts but still was good. The tart was OK. Not quite what I was expecting. The dough was more pie dough rather than 1-2-3 dough or cookie dough or even pastry. It was flaky enough and pretty good. I was expecting a more 1-2-3 dough or puff paste. I thought the presentation a little sloppy but the flavors were good.

We both had pretty good espresso drinks. I had a double decaf espresso and Kim had a cappuccino. Go and enjoy this great restaurant. We did and we will be going back. Next time with a camera.